Free My Carrier War by Norman E. Berg Page A

behind me.” He backed away from us, creating a space on the floor where he drew a circle with a piece of chalk.
    “Watch the aircraft model as I talk. We want to make our dive into the wind—let’s say it’s out of the north. Remember the wind direction. It’s important. Estimate the direction and velocity so you can adjust your aiming point on the target. It will give you a better chance for accuracy in dive-bombing.”
    Instructor demonstrating dive-bombing with a wooden aircraft model.
    We watched as he moved around the chalk circle on the floor with the model. “OK, now we’re downwind of the target. Notice that the model is not as high. We’ve dropped down to 8,000 feet. We’re ready to dive. Watch the model.” He moved the model, simulating a diving turn to the right; he moved it downward towards the floor. “Be sure your dive brakes are extended. The dive brakes will extend on the upper and lower sides of your lower wing. They create drag and help control your air speed in the dive. The ideal dive speed is between 170 and 180 knots at the bomb release point. The bomb release point should be no lower than 1,500 feet.” He stopped, looking at each of us.
    “Be careful here. You may not have the target centered in your bombsight. You want a hit, so you may want to continue the dive. You want that hit! Guys, I can’t think of a worse way to die than to hit that target with your plane because you didn’t pull out in time! Pull out by 1,500 feet!”
    Damn! How can I keep my eyes on the target, on the air speed and the altitude, and hit the target? Maybe it won’t hurt to go a bit lower if I’m almost on the target. What if it was a Jap ship I was diving on? Wouldn’t I stay in the dive longer? Don’t even think about it. This is training, Norm. Pull out at 1,500 feet!
    After a long pause where he looked at each of us, he reminded us again. “Remember 1,500 feet! OK? Now reduce throttle as you start your dive. It will help control your air speed. What you want is a steep dive—at least 80 degrees in relation to the ground. That way you present a small target for enemy ground fire and your bombs will go almost straight down to the target. This is why dive-bombing is such a fine attack weapon. Now the pull out.”
    He moved the model upwards again. “Start your pullout no lower than 1,500 feet. You’ll experience some Gs on your pull out. The pull of gravity is forcing your plane down. You’re fighting against gravity when you pull out of the dive. Just keep a steady pressure on your controls; tighten your belly muscles to help keep your blood from moving to your lower body as it reacts to the pull of gravity.
    As you level out, the G pressure will disappear. After your dive, climb back to 8,000 feet, and continue your dives individually until you complete six dives. After my first dive, I will circle the target as an observer. When the last plane makes its final dive, I will circle the target until you all join up on me and we’ll return to base. Any questions? OK, let’s go.”
    Our takeoff from the base was smooth, and we quickly joined up on the instructor and headed for the target area.
    This should go OK. After all, it’s like gunnery except we’re diving more steeply and on a ground target rather than on a gunnery target. This target’s not moving. It’ll be easy compared with gunnery. Don’t black out on the pull out. Be careful. Just a steady pressure on the controls. There goes the instructor on his dive. There’s the smoke from his bomb—a hit! Where’s the wind from? Get ready! Here I go!
    First, I pulled back on the throttle, then opened my dive brakes. A metal flap extended on the upper sides of the plane’s lower wing. The same kind of a flap also extended on the bottom of the plane’s wing. The flaps had holes in them to allow the passage of air. The dive flaps served as brakes on the air speed as the plane went into an almost vertical dive. By controlling the speed of the